Celeste Riley
Celeste M. Riley (b. February 4, 1960) is a former Democratic member of the New Jersey General Assembly, representing District 3 from her appointment on March 7, 2009, to January 2015. She resigned following her election as Cumberland County clerk in November 2014.[1]
Riley served as a member of the Bridgeton City Council from 2006-2009.
Biography
Riley earned her B.A. in Music from LaSalle University and her M.S. in Arts Administration from Drexel University. Her professional experience includes working as a teacher at the Morris Goodwin Elementary School in Greenwich Township.[2]
Committee assignments
2014-2015
At the beginning of the 2014 legislative session, Riley served on the following committees:
| New Jersey committee assignments, 2014 |
|---|
| • Higher Education, Chair |
| • Agriculture and Natural Resources |
| • Regulated Professions |
2010-2012
In the 2010-2012 legislative session, Riley served on the following committees:
| New Jersey committee assignments, 2010 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Natural Resources, Vice-Chair |
| • Housing and Local Government |
Issues
Sponsored legislation
- A3722: Establishes pilot program in Gloucester County, transferring municipal tax assessment function to county through appointment of a county assessor and deputy county assessors.
- A3882: Upgrades possession of child pornography to a crime of the third degree; provides for parole supervision for life for production and transmission of child pornography.[3]
Elections
2013
Riley won re-election in the 2013 election for New Jersey General Assembly District 3. Riley was bracketed with John J. Burzichelli. She was unopposed in the June 4 Democratic primary. She and incumbent John J. Burzichelli (D) defeated Larry Wallace (R) and Bob Vanderslice (R) in the general election, which took place on November 5, 2013.[4][5][6][7]
| New Jersey General Assembly, District 3 General Election, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  John Burzichelli Incumbent |
28% | 31,049 | |
| Democratic | Celeste Riley Incumbent |
26.9% | 29,870 | |
| Republican | Larry Wallace | 22.6% | 25,094 | |
| Republican | Bob Vanderslice | 22.4% | 24,823 | |
| Total Votes | 110,836 | |||
2011
Riley won re-election in 2011. She and incumbent John Burzichelli ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary on June 7. They then defeated Domenick DiCicco and Bob Villare in the November 8 general election.[8]
| New Jersey General Assembly District 3 General Election, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | John Burzichelli Incumbent |
28% | 25,172 | |
| Democratic | Celeste Riley Incumbent |
26.6% | 23,960 | |
| Republican | Domenick DiCicco | 22.5% | 20,268 | |
| Republican | Bob Villare | 22.8% | 20,528 | |
| Total Votes | 89,928 | |||
Redistricting
NJ Spotlight identified District 3 as a potential place for the GOP to pickup a seat in the Assembly. Following redistricting, District 4 Republican incumbent Domenick DiCicco was moved into District 3. He ran with Bob Villare, who came within 1,300 votes of defeating Celeste Riley in 2009.[9]
2009
Running for re-election in the 2009 general election, Riley defeated challengers Lee Lucas and Robert Villare. She was bracketed with John Burzichelli.[10] [11]
| New Jersey Assembly General Election, Third Legislative District (2009) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| John J. Burzichelli (D)
|
35,423 | |||
| Celeste M. Riley (D)
|
31,888 | |||
| Robert Villare (R) | 30,526 | |||
| Lee Lucas (R) | 27,316 | |||
Campaign themes
2013
On their shared campaign website, Celeste Riley and John Burzichelli listed the following five major campaign themes:
- Protect South Jersey jobs
- Excerpt: "John and Celeste are investing in local small businesses to protect jobs and grow South Jersey’s economy. John and Celeste are working to help small business owners by eliminating exorbitant fees, cutting red tape and providing other incentives."
- Bring home our fair share of state resources
- Excerpt: "With all the taxes we pay, South Jersey deserves more than budget leftovers. John and Celeste are a powerful voice making sure we get our fair share of state resources."
- Cap state spending
- Excerpt: "John and Celeste will push for zero-based budgeting, forcing bureaucrats to prove the merit of every dollar they want to spend."
- Improve access to affordable health care
- Excerpt: "..keep insurance affordable by reducing premium costs and lowering administrative expenses. They increased funding for local hospitals, and are committed to ensuring seniors living on fixed incomes can afford need prescription drugs."
- Prohibit politicians from accepting gifts from lobbyists
- Excerpt: "John and Celeste are neighbors and community leaders—not career politicians. That’s why they support legislation that prohibits politicians from accepting gifts from lobbyists. They are advocating for tougher election laws to keep corruption out of our state government."
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of New Jersey scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2014
In 2014, the 216th New Jersey State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 14 through January 12, 2015.
- ACLU-NJ: 2014-2015 Scorecard
- Legislators are scored based on their voting record for bills relating to civil liberties.
- Americans for Prosperity: 2014 Midterm Legislator Ratings
- Legislators are scored on how they voted on tax and fiscal legislation.
- Clean Water Action: Legislative Scorecard 2014-2015
- Legislators are scored on environment and conservation issues.
- The American Conservative Union: 2014 Legislative scorecard
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the 215th New Jersey State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 10 to January 13, 2014.
|
2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
|---|
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In 2012, the 215th New Jersey State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 10 to January 9, 2013.
|
Endorsements
2013
In 2013, Riley’s endorsements included the following:[12] [13]
- The New Jersey AFL-CIO
- Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Riley and her husband, Richard Dawson, have two children and three step-children.
Additional reading
- NJSpotlight, "Candidates: Legislative District 3," November 4, 2011
- NJSpotlight, "Legislative District 3," October 17, 2011
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Celeste + Riley + New Jersey + Assembly"
See also
- New Jersey General Assembly
- General Assembly Committees
- New Jersey State Legislature
- Joint Committees
- New Jersey state legislative districts
External links
- Riley/Burzichelli Official 2011 campaign website
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- NJ Assembly Democrats - Assemblywoman Riley
- Campaign contributions: 2011, 2009
Footnotes
- ↑ The Daily Journal, "Ex-Penn State football player replaces Riley in Assembly," accessed January 16, 2015
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey State Legislature, "Bills Sponsored by Senators and Representatives," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Department of Elections, "Official Primary Election Results," accessed July 26, 2013
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official general election candidates," September 9, 2013
- ↑ Associated Press, "New Jersey - Summary Vote Results," November 6, 2013
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "2013 Official General Election results," accessed December 6, 2013
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "2011 Official General Assembly Primary Candidate List," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ NJ Spotlight, "Election 2011: Where the Republicans Can Pick Up Assembly Seats," April 12, 2011
- ↑ Associated Press, "General Election Results, November 4, 2009," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official 2009 New Jersey Assembly General Election Results," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ PolitickerNJ.com, "AFL-CIO endorses candidates for elections," accessed September 4, 2013
- ↑ Planned Parenthood NJ "Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey Announces Endorsements in State Elections," accessed September 5, 2013
